Grain cleaning machine



A. SCHAR GRAIN CLEANING MACHINE Dec. 16, 1952 Filed Sept. 10, 1948 3 SheecsSheet 1 FIG.

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Dec. 16, 1952 sc A 2,621,794

GRAIN CLEANING MACHINE Filed Sept. 10, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 N WE - Dec. 1%, 1952 A; SCHAR GRAIN CLEANING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 10, 1948 Patented Dec. 16, 1952 GRAIN CLEANING MACHINE Alfred Schiir, Wallisellen, Switzerland Application September 10, 1948, Serial No. 48,719 In Switzerland September 12, 1947 This invention concerns a machine for cleaning grain, particularly for separating specifically heavy foreign bodies, for example stones from cereal grains, such as wheat or rice.

It is an object of the invention to separate stones or other relatively heavy bodies from grains, without the usual treatment of the grains 3 Claims. (o1.209'--4s1) in water, but solely by subjecting thegrain to vibration in successive stages and to an air current.

To the accomplishment of this object and other objects as may hereinafter appear, my invention is directed to the machine for cleaning grain as described in the following specification and defined in the appended claims, taken together with the annexed drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a machine according to the invention, comprising a stationary base casing and vibratory upper casing.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on line H-JI of Fig. 3.

Fig. Fig. 5.

Fig.

Fig. Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section through the vibratory casing on the line V'I--VI of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a transverse section on the line VII-VII of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a sectional detail view on the line VIII-VIII of Fig. 6.

Fig. 9 is a sectional detail view on the line IXIX of Fig. 6.

Figs. 10 and 11 are sectional detail views on the lines XX and XI-XI, respectively, of Fig. 6.

Fig. 12 is a vertical sectional detail view of an 3 is a vertical section on line III-III of 4 is an end view of the machine. is a vertical section on the line V-V of air current separating device, on the line XII- XII of Fig. 13.

be cleaned, as shown in Fig. 3, while in transverse direction, as shown in Fig. 7, the bottom of the trough isinclined from both longitudinal sides towards the center, where each trough is provided with a longitudinal channel 9, extending the whole lengthof the trough. At the discharge end of the trough 3 a fixed tongue I0 is disposed above the channel 9 and secured to the frame of the vibratory casing l. The tongue I0 is spaced from the bottom of the channel and its purpose is to divide the stream of grains flowing down the channel in two streams, a portion of the grains passing below the tongue and another portion above the tongue. A similar tongue 1 l is placed above the end of the channel 9 in the trough 4; tongues I2 and 13 are disposed in similar manner at the discharge ends of the channels in the troughs 5 and 6, and further similar tongues l4 and I5 are provided above the outlet ends of the central channels 9 in the troughs I and 8. The end of the channels 9 in the troughs 3 and 4 discharge into a vertical conduit [5 (Figs. 3, 5 and 8), the channels 9 of the troughs 5 and 6 discharge into a vertical conduit I! (Figs. 3 and 10), and the channels 9 of the troughs I and 8 discharge into a vertical conduit l8.

Two superposedreceptacles I 9 and 20 are sup-- ported by the vibratory casing 1 below the vertical conduit I6 to receive the material falling down through this conduit. These receptacles (Fig. 15) are provided with a cone-shaped bottom 2 I, having its highest point or summit located in the center of the receptacle and perforated at 23. The bottom 2| is surrounded by an upstanding rim 22.- Below the outlet of the vertical conduit [8 are disposed two groups of similar superposed receptacles 24, 25, 26 and 21, and 2B, 29, 30, 3| and 32, each of these receptacles being provided with a cone-shaped bottom having a hole 23 at the summit. The holes of the various receptacles gradually decrease in diameter from the highest receptacles of each group to the lowermost receptacles. A floor 33 (Figs. 3 and 6) forming part of the vibratory casing l collects material which falls over the rim 22 of the cone bottom receptacles l9 and 20, and 24 to 32, and delivers it to an outlet 34. The inlet of the "grain to be cleaned into the vibrating casing l is designated ably mounted in a bearing 48 carried by a transversebeam 49 of the base casing 2, and is provided with a radial arm 38 carrying a compensating weight 5|. A driving pulley 53 is mounted on the bottom end of the shaft 50.

A driving shaft 54 is mounted in bearings 56 outside of the casing 2. One end of the shaft carries an eccentric pin 55 journalled in the head 31 of a connecting rod 5'! (Figs. 1 and 2). The rod 51 is pivotally connected to an arm 58 which is secured to a pipe section 59 forming part of a blow pipe; The outlet of this pipe. forms three nozzles 60, BI and 62 (Fig. l2) ending-each in a channeled tongue 63, 54 and 65, respectively.

The inner end of the pipe section 59 is connected" by means of blade springs 66 to the; blow pipe:

section 6! connected to the delivery end of a blower 68. When the shaft 54 rotates,- the eccentric pin 55 imparts a to-and-fro movement to the connecting rod 51 which, by the intermediary of the arm 58 produces a vibratory motion of the pipe section 59 with the nozzles 60, 6|, 62, and the channeled tongues 63,, 64 and 65.

The blower 68 is provided'with a centralair inlet 89 (Figs. 3 and 4) and the amount-of'aspirated: air is controlled by means of. a throttle disc 70. connected by links H to a hand lever 12 on the outside wall of the casing 2, by means of which lever the throttle disc 10 can be raised'orlowered to open more or less the air inlet 69 and accordingly to create a more or less intensive air stream through the. delivery conduit 61,. 59;

Theair delivered by the nozzles 60, Stand 62 is:

which will be connected. by a belt drive to the;

pulley 114. on thelfihaft, .54..

The vibrating troughs-3,. 4. 5.}. 5., landfiam;

preferably; made of pressed. sheet: metal; andare provided with straight ribs 16 projecting above:

the bottom of the troughs (Figs. 6- and 7). Theseribs extend from both longitudinal sides of the troughs. in oblique direction relative to the flow of the material in the trough, into the central channel 9;

The. describedgrain cleaning machine operates. in the following manner: The material to be cleaned, iromwliich stones and other relatively heavy bodies are to be removed. is continuously. fed through the inlet 35 to .the two :troughs 3 and14". Thedrivingshaft 54 isinoperationand by" means. of the belt. 14 the shaft 50 is caused to rapidly rotate, so that the eccentric pin 52 imparts an oscillating vibratory motion to :the;

casing. l= and to the entire structure of. troughs.

and receptacles supported thereby. The mate-- rial on the troughs 3: and. 4 slides slowly downwards; the relatively heavy stones falling to the bottom; of the troughswhere they are. directed towards. the. central channel 9 by the ribs. 16.

At the discharge end of the troughs 3 and 4, the,

lowermost layer of .materialin the. channels .9,

whichgla-yer comprises most of thestones, flows underneath thetongues It and threspectively, into. thepconduit. l6: according to the. arrows 11 (Figs; 3 and. 8.), and falls. into the cone bottom receptacles. 1 9 and: .20.

The layeriof materialzfiowing, over the tongues l and. I;:l, and. the. material discharged f romv the troughs:- 3 and AlateI Hy of thetcentral hannele falls; through open; spaces 18. and 19 between the.-

end: or the "trough: bottoms and the partition; 80 (Figs. 3; 16. and .9), on the next following; pairof troughs; and: 6.

with thetroughs 3 andz4. The stones whichare still left in the material tendagain to flow to:-

wards the-central channels 9 of these two troughs. Atzthe. dischar e; ends: of these troughs. the lower most layerrof material in thechannels 9 contain-- These troughs are identical. I

receptacles 28, 29 and 3t, and 24, 25 of the two groups of receptacles.

The material of the troughs 5 and 6 flowing over the tongues l2 and I3 and the material discharged from these troughs laterally of the central channels 9 falls through. open spaces 82 and 83 between the end of the bottoms of these troughs and the partition wall 84 (Figs. 3, 6 and 11) into the next following pair of troughs 1 and 8. The same stone separating action is repeatedin these two troughs. The; lowermost layer of' material in the central channels; 9 of the troughs l and 8', which layer maystill contain stones, fiows underneath the tongues l4 and I5 and is discharged into the upper cone bottom receptacles 24 and 28 of the two groups of receptacles. The trough bottom laterally of the central'channels at the discharge end of theitroughsfl and fi-extends to the partition wallflll (Fig. 3). The material on these bottom portions, after having successively passed through three separating troughs is now free of stones and is discharged immediately through-slots, not represented',.in' the partition wall 89, so as to fall on theffioor. 33 and arrive at the. outlet 34.

The material. delivered from the troughs 3 4 through the conduit it to the receptacles l9 and 26. is subjected. to furtherv separation in the receptacles. As shown: inFig. 115,, these receptacles have a. conical. bottomizl. The cone anglea may vary between l.1andi3.3 as, has been determined by experience. The receptacles also are subjected to the circular vibratory movement imparted by the shaft 59 to the casing l When stone containing grain arrives on the vibrating receptacles it: can be observed that the'specifically heavier stones tend to rise on the conical surface towards the center thereof, while the specifically lighterkernelsremain near the periphery of the. cone-shaped bottom. Accordingly the stones slowly move towards the summit. of the cone when the receptacle i9 vibrates and eventually fall through the central hole 23 of. the bottom, while the kernels fall over the rim 22 of the receptacle, either into the lower receptacle 23' or through the opening 84 in the wall 80. Naturally, a portion. of the kernels also will fall through the central holes 23 of both receptacles l9 and 20, but-no stones will fall over the periphery of the receptacles; In the. lower receptacle 25 the same separation is repeated, the stones and a portion of the: kernels fall through the central hole of the cone-shaped bottom while kernels only are discharged through the opening Z35 in the wall 88 and arrive on the floor 33 on which they pass to the outlet 34.

The stones and kernels which pass through the central holes 23 of the receptacles i9 and 20 fall through the conduit l8 and arrive in the two upper. receptacles 24 and 28 of the two adjacent groupsoicone bottomreceptacles. In the superposedreceptacles the separation of stones is further carried out; in the same manner as in the receptacles l9 and 28- just described. Stones and a certain amount. of kernels fall through the central holes 23, while kernels without any stones are discharged over the peripheral rims of the various receptacles into the next lower receptacle or through openings 86 in the wall so and fall on the floor .33 to pass to the outlet 34.

The material which traversed the central holes of the superposed cone bottom receptacles, which comprises a large percentage of stones, falls on an inclined wall 81 which delivers it to an inclined tongue 88 (Figs. 3, 5 and 12) above the blower nozzles 69, 6! and E32. From this tongue 88 the material falls down on the channeled tongue 63 in front of the nozzle 60, the nozzle and tongue 63 effecting a vibratory movement which is imparted to the pipe section 59 by the eccentric pin 55 of the drive shaft 54. As soon as the material, falling off the tongue 83 arrives in the air current of the nozzle 69, the lighter kernels are blown in the direction of the arrow 89 into the outlet collector housing 99, from which they fall down on the inclined chute 9i and into the outlet pipe 92 disposed underneath the outlet 34 for the grain which has been collected by the floor 33. Owing to the triangular section of the channels of the tongue 63, the intensity of the air current is smaller near the narrow bottom of the channels, due to friction along the walls of the channel, than at the wider top of the channels. The heavier stones fall to the bottom of the channels and are slowly ejected therefrom by the less intense air current. Since not all the kernels may have been blown off from the first tongue 63, the separating action is repeated. The stones and such kernels which have not been blown into the housing 90 fall from the channeled tongue 63 to a collecting sheet 93 which is also carried by the blow pipe section 59 and accordingly subjected to vibrations. This collecting sheet delivers the material in front of the second air nozzle 6| on the channeled tongue 64. The lighter kernels are again blown away into the housing 90 and fall into the chute 9| and outlet 62, while the heavier stones fall into the channels of the tongue 64 and are blown slowly out of the channels to fall on a further collecting sheet 94 which again delivers the collected material to the third channeled tongue 65 in front of the nozzle 62. A final separation of stones and kernels takes place, the kernels are blown into the housing 99 and the stones fall on the inclined surface 95 and from there into the stone outlet 96.

The grain collected below the outlet pipe 92 is practically free of stones. If material is treated which contains a relatively high percentage of stones or other heavy foreign particles, it is possible to direct the material from the outlet 92 on an elevator device which brings it again to the inlet 35 of the vibrating casing I, so as to cause the material to repeatedly flow through the machine until all stones have been completely removed.

It will be understood that while I have shown and described one method of carrying my invention into effect, various changes and modifications of the construction herein shown and described may be made, particularly the number and disposition of the various vibrating troughs and receptacles may be altered, within the scope of the appended claims and without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. In a grain cleaning machine, a, stationary lower casing, a movable upper casing carried by substantially vertically disposed elastic rods supported by their lower ends in said lower stationary casing, said lower casing supporting a substantially vertical rotatable shaft provided with an eccentric extension engaging said movable upper casing, whereby upon rotation of said shaft a substantially circular horizontal vibratory motion is imparted to the upper casing, a series of superposed receptacles carried by said upper casing for vibratory movement therewith, means in said upper casing for directing a stream of granular material to be cleaned to said receptacles, each receptacle having a cone-shaped bottom provided with a perforation at the central peak of the bottom and with an upstanding rim surrounding the peripheral edge of the bottom, the bottom surface sloping downwards in all directions from said central perforated peak towards the peripheral rim of the bottom, whereby upon vibratory movement of said receptacles the specifically heavy particles will rise towards the peak of the cone-shaped bottom and discharge through said perforation, while the specifically lighter grains will discharge over said peripheral rim of the bottom.

2. In a grain cleaning machine, a stationary base, a movable casing suspended in said base, said casing being carried by substantially vertically disposed elastic rods supported by their lower ends in said base, means mounted in said base to impart a circular vibratory movement to said movable casing, said means including a substantially vertical rotatable shaft having an eccentric extension engaging said movable casing, series of superposed receptacles carried by said movable casing for circular vibratory movement therewith, means in said upper casing for directing a stream of granular material to be cleaned to said receptacles, each receptacle having a cone-shaped bottom provided with a perforation at the central peak of the bottom and with an upstanding rim surrounding the peripheral edge of the bottom, the bottom surface sloping downwards in all directions from said central perforated peak towards the peripheral rim of the bottom, whereby upon rotation of said shaft and vibratory movement of said receptacles the specifically heavy grain will rise towards the peak of the cone-shaped bottom and discharge through said perforation, while the specifically lighter grains will discharge over said peripheral rim of the bottom.

3. A grain cleaning machine as defined in claim 1, wherein the perforations at the central peak of the conical bottoms of a series of superposed receptacles gradually decrease in diameter from the highest receptacle to the lowermost receptacle of said series.

ALFRED soHAR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 10,591 Prinz Apr. 28, 1885 45,341 Prater Dec, 6, 1864 171,747 Thompson Jan. 4, 1876 272,637 Bowen Feb. 20, 1883 805,215 Lyle Nov. 21, 1905 1,036,014 Seck Aug. 20, 1912 1,049,217 Fasting Dec. 31, 1912 1,262,554 Patterson Apr. 9, 1918 1,512,701 Lockwood Oct. 21, 1924 2,091,620 Williams Aug. 31, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 17,423 Great Britain of 1891 21,097 Great Britain of 1905 292,099 Germany May 25, 1916 

